Re: [Setup-tool-hackers] [HST] Plans for coming week - please read

[Miguel de Icaza <miguel helixcode com>]

My comments:

> - Buttons that don't complete an action immediately, but starts an interface
>   procedure, like a dialog, should have "..." tacked to the end of their
>   names.

I am not sure this is actually useful nowadays.  Although a nice idea
in principle, nobody ever depends on this on their day to day life.
It is not a user interface feature that provides any real advantage.

> - Enable the tools to su themselves, while we wait for a release of
>   root-manager and/or console-helper. 

console-helper is part of Red Hat systems and some others.  The idea
is that instead of installing your program in /usr/bin/prog, you
install it in /usr/sbin/prog, and you make a link from /usr/bin/prog
to "consolehelper", that trick will get you the root password
prompting.

> If that fails, we can just chop
>   our own heads off and make the tools +s, using a crypt() check.

Do not do this.  Exploiting set-uid applications is extremely simple,
and Gtk+ has not been prepared or audited to deal with this situation
at all.  It is a can of worms that requires extensive training.

Miguel.